In an article talking about Microsoft closing off support for Hotmail in Outlook Express and pushing Windows Live Mail you include a poll asking which desktop mail client do you use, if you happen to use one, yet neglect to include none other than Windows Live Mail as an option?

O_o

My vote for Other, namely Windows Live Mail.

:D

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I can't find the "none" button.

I leave the stuff where it belongs, on someone else's hard drives.

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OE Express is really awful crud from what I've seen. It's a good thing to move users over to WLMail instead.

WLMail has a way better interface, RSS feeds, better e-mail composing options, and of course works great with Hotmail and other Live stuff MS does. Plus it will always get update, where OE Express is just plain old.

At least this shows that MS still cares and won't leave their users in the dusts.

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I use google apps to host my domain for my email. Just stuff for me and wife and some other relatives. I live in the US but the rest of my family is in the UK. When over there good luck accessing a US based and cached email account on yahoo and gmail. The only way I could access mine was through IMAP. My wife was out of luck because she hadnt enabled IMAP. Yahoo figured we weren't in the US and tried to recache in Europe but it never managed. My father uses an account on the same domain but as he lives there his works flawlessly. Anyways, just a long ramble to say I use email on iPhone and mac when I have to.

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nothing wrong with thunderbird with the webmail plugins

http://webmail.mozdev.org/

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I've been using Hotmail since before M$ took them over... Remember HoTMaiL? The only good thing about M$ buying them out was the OE connection. I seem to remember some years ago M$ started a policy where "new accounts" wouldn't be able to use the OE connection unless they had a "plus" (pay) account.

Well that does it, I'm going over to Thunderbird and Gmail full time. Šçřěщ Ұσύ МЇĉŕőşőғť.

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Well I used Thunderbird for a while before switching to outlook 07 because it came with the version of office I bought. IMO, I was better off with Thunderbird.

Outlook's just flaky, at least for e-mail, it crashes and stalls frequently, the desktop "Pop Up" alerts for new mail only work for the "default" POP3 mail account (the "set as default" button is handily grayed out when I try to set my IMAP AOL account as default.) In Thunderbird these alerts worked for every account, no problem.

To add insult to injury, I installed the "Windows Live Hotmail connector" to try and get my Hotmail in my Outlook inbox. Guess what? Absolutely nothing happens, it syncronizes with the hotmail server yet nothing actually gets downloaded to my computer-all I see in outlook is an empty hotmail inbox!

Not to mention that it asks this question everytime I open a message, select the option to view the pictures within, and then attempt to close the window- "The contents of this message has changed, do you want to save those changes?" Seriously, does anyone here know how to turn this crap off?
What an absolute waste of my time

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I like getting my Gmail through Thunderbird. I just like having a desktop client, but I have all the convenience of checking my mail online when I'm away from home.

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There's just a tiny problem with this ... windows live mail doesn't install to half of the machines I own!

Windows Mail does work, though, but is it getting the same treatment as OE?

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Why bother with Outlook Express when you can migrate for free to eM Client with Calendar, Tasks and many other features...

http://www.emclient.com

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Hi, you also forgot Opera!
I have thunderbird, evolution and kmail, but i still use opera, because its just easier to use it as your web and mail browser

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Well blow me down, as I write this over 50% of those responding to the poll use some form of desktop email client which comes from microsoft - this is why microsoft remains so powerful at every level - remembering that even when we are online hotmail/livemail way outscores gmail or whatever in usage.
It's still an MS world

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I haven't used free e-mail in a long time.

Microsoft Outlook works so much better, especially when using Microsoft Exchange.

I would love nothing more than to use free software, since it's free, but it is just too nice having my mail, tasks, contacts, and appointments i enter into Outlook with Exchange instantly synchronize and appear on my HTC Tytn, and Laptop.

With the other software, I would have to synchronize with my laptop and desktop manually, and have to connect my phone to my computer to synchronize anything.

I could never go back to free e-mail accounts, or free e-mail software.

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I use Outlook simply for the fact it synchronises so easily and hassle-free with my Nokia N73 and PC Suite. After sorting out all my contacts and calender events while I had my Sony Ericsson k800, I managed to get everything onto my N73 in almost 5 minutes. I don't think I could stand having to re-type everything onto a new phone these days.

Plus, I use Outlook constantly at work so it's become second nature to use. Other than that, I'd prefer to check my email from an online account rather than through POP3.

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Seriously, what possible reason could anybody have to use a desktop email client these days? I guess if you were like on dial-up or something, but that's a vanishingly small segment of the population (and probably about 1% of DLS readers). I would use IMAP for e.g. a cell phone or PDA, but that's not a "desktop" client. Am I missing some other factor?

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Windows Live Mail requires XP or higher OS.

In typical Microsoft fashion, if you try to install Windows Live Mail on an earlier OS, you get a cryptic message saying "Upgrade your Windows version". (Nice touch Bill.)

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I prefer to have one place to access Hotmail, my own Exchange server (IMAP access) and an Exchange server for work. Got that in a webmail client that also doesn't require me to enter my passwords when I open it, and also doesn't time out on me?? I generally prefer OE over Outlook (03 and 07) because Outlook takes awhile to load its clunky interface, and crashes more often than OE.

For me, the argument for using OE is much like any MS product: it just works. No compile, no download, no install; it's there with the OS, I click through a few simple settings, and everything is set up faster than I can download a third party client. With MS phasing out OE for Hotmail, I'll have to download a client; so why pick Live over Thunderbird? It'll stay an MS world as long as MS holds the integration and simplicity card. Odd that they break the one big selling point they hold onto.

Nice earlier comment "(Nice job, Bill.)" He leaves the company and he's still credited with anything it does. 100 years from now in 2108 MS will come out with Windows UberVista-108 Deluxe, and people will still be cursing Gates' name whenever they find a bug. :D

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